ILR education took debate skills to a higher level, says Alex Bores

ALEX BORES: Last month we went to a tournament at Yale University which had over 300 competitors there from all across North America competing. And it's widely regarded as the toughest tournament in North America. And a team of two [? ILREs, ?] myself and Danny Blackman, ended up winning the entire tournament. It was the first time Cornell had won that tournament. And because of the prestige associated with that tournament and our success, that led just a few weeks later to a number one ranking in the world for our debate team.
ILR has been great preparation for the debate team. There are the topics on which it directly prepares us, such as the five times I've debated labor unions while being a debater. But also, it helps just prepare how to engage with audiences. Through my classes in negotiation and arbitration, I've learned a lot about how to craft an important argument on any wide range of topics.
When I came to Cornell, I had already been involved in debate. And so when I was choosing colleges, the Cornell debate team was something that really stood out to me. But the education I got at ILR helped me take my debating to the next level. I learned about the intersection of economics and government to apply to a wide range of policies, but I also simply learned about how to get a point across. Classes such as Argumentation, Negotiation, Arbitration helped me make a poignant point, no matter what I was discussing in the debate room.

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The Cornell Forensics Society was ranked first among 800 teams internationally Nov. 19 by the International Debate Education Association. The team will complete its season Dec. 27-Jan 4 in Berlin at the 33rd World Universities Debating Championships.

Based at the ILR School, the 100-student squad is sending three teams of two to compete in Germany: Alex Bores '13 and Daniel Blackman '13, both in ILR; Ryan Yeh '13, economics and psychology, and Kirat Singh '14, economics and government; and Srinath Reddy '14 mathematics, economics and government, and Julius Kairey '15, government.